Andrew Bergen

Andrez Bergen

Andrez Bergen
Born Andrew Bergen
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Residence Tokyo, Japan
Other names Little Nobody, Funk Gadget, Slam-Dunk Ninja, et al.
Occupation Journalist
Years active 1996–present
Organization IF? Records, IF? Commix
Known for Music composition and production, writing, journalism, comic art, comic label and record label owner
Notable work Pop Tart, Action Hero, Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat, One Hundred Years of Vicissitude, Who is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa?
Style Dada, Gothic, Hardboiled, Post-punk, Pulp, Industrial, Experimental, Electronic
Home town Melbourne, Australia
Spouse(s) Yoko Umehara
Children Cocoa Bergen
Website
andrezbergen.wordpress.com

Andrez Bergen is an Australian musician, author, journalist, comic artist, and comic label and record label owner, who uses Little Nobody as his primary electronic music production moniker. Bergen relocated to Tokyo, Japan, in 2001 to further develop his creative oeuvre, which is less music-based in 2014. In March 2014, in response to being asked for a personal introduction, Bergen said: "I guess I’m a born-and-bred Aussie—from Melbourne—who’s lived a quarter of his life in Tokyo. I’m a dad (my daughter is now eight) and I teach English, while on the side pottering with music (as Little Nobody), novels, journalism and comic books. Oh, and I love sashimi and strong black coffee." Bergen's fourth novel, Depth Charging Ice Plant Gothic, was released on 25 July 2014, and his next graphic novel, Bullet Gal, will be released in April 2015.

Early life

Bergen was born in Melbourne, Australia[1] and his birth name is "Andrew Bergen".[2] Bergen attended Melbourne High School for his secondary education, which was followed by a tertiary degree at the University of Melbourne.[3]

Music

Bergen composes and produces his own music under multiple monikers, including Little Nobody, Schlock Tactile, DJ Fodder, Curvaceous Crustacean, Slam-dunk Ninja, Atomic Autocrac vs Admiral Anderision, Dick Drone and the LN Elektronische Ensemble. In August 2013, he explained: "In the techno/electronic music field I’ve used aliases like Little Nobody, Funk Gadget, Dick Drone, Nana Mouskouri’s Spectacles, and about 20 other aliases."[2]

Little Nobody

Bergen cites the 1970s industrial sounds and ideology of Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire as significant influences for his work as Little Nobody: "Since about 15 years ago, when I first heard their album The Voice of America.[4] In 1998, he released his first full-length Little Nobody album, titled Pop Tart.

Andrez Bergen in 2005

Three years later, the second Little Nobody album Action Hero was one of the four "Best Album of the Year" final nominees for 3D World‍ '​s 2001 Australian Dance Music Awards, of which The Avalanches were the eventual winner. That year, his remix EP of Bare, a collaboration with vocalist Marcella Brassett, was also selected as "Single of the Week" in Melbourne's Beat magazine by reviewer Andrew Mast.[5] Little Nobody also appeared on the second compilation of Si Begg's cut-up beat Noodles Discotheque series in 2001.

Bergen then released a series of vinyl recordings in Japan, including the Depth Charge EP (2003), Eating the Heart of the Fishes (2005) and The Slack Plague EP (2007). In 2008 Bergen released a remix compilation called Little Nobody Presents Slam-dunk Ninja: The Perspicacious Remix Selection, as well as a new album titled Eat Tatoo Dead Tiger. Deeppresso was then released on the American Auricular label in 2009, Hackneyed Record Crate was released in 2010 and Convert to Mono was released in 2011. Two EPs were also released during this period: Robota EP (2010) and the Metropolis How? EP (2010), the latter of which also features James Ruskin and Justin Berkovi.

During 2010, Bergen returned to the vinyl format for a number of releases.

In May 2011, Bergen released the Little Nobody Commix remix compilation CD through Japanese label Fountain Music (featuring mixes by Mijk van Dijk, Ruskin, Dave Angel, Shin Nishimura, Donk Boys, Si Begg, Patrick Pulsinger, DJ Wada, Captain Funk and Justin Robertson).

Remixes and cover versions

Little Nobody's music has been remixed by Sweden's Donk Boys, Britain's Si Begg (Mosquito), Luke's Anger, Justin Robertson, Dave Tarrida (Tresor), James Ruskin, Dave Angel, Tobias Schmidt (Tresor), E383, Steve Cobby from Fila Brazillia, Justin Berkovi and Jason Leach (Subhead), Bas Mooy, Jammin' Unit, Mijk van Dijk, Biochip C, Patrick Pulsinger, AUX 88, Paul Birken, Blake Baxter, Wyndell Long, Steve Stoll, Steve Law (Zen Paradox), Nicole Skeltys, Digital Primate, Bitch Shift, Dee Dee, Son Of Zev, DJ Hi-Shock, Koda, Craig McWhinney, Nick Littlemore (Pnau, Empire Of The Sun), Tatsuya Oe (Captain Funk), DJ Wada (Co-Fusion), DJ Warp (Elektrax), Alone Together (IF?), Magnet Toy (Trope), Funkarmor, Masaya Sasaki, Toshiyuki Yasuda (formerly from Fantastic Plastic Machine), Naotoxin, Gadget Cassette, Shin Nishimura and Yamaoka.

As a remixer himself, Bergen has worked on music by Severed Heads, AUX 88, Wyndell Long, Dasha Rush, Dead Sound, Luke's Anger, Kid Calmdown, Slam-dunk Ninja, DJ Hi-Shock, Marcella Brassett, Dale Baldwin, Bitch Shift, Koda, Alkan, Son Of Zev, Abis and Yasuda. As the LN Elektronische Ensemble, Bergen has recorded a cover version of The Doors' "Light My Fire" for a live SBS Radio session in Australia.

Tours

Little Nobody has played live in Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Beijing, London, Amsterdam, Detroit, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Windsor and extensively around Australia. He appeared at numerous Australian electronica parties, including Every Picture Tells A Story, Hardware, Where The Wild Things Are, Freaky Loops, Earthcore, Zoetrope, War Of The Worlds, Dragonflight, Sunshine People, Omniglobe, Innovator, Technofest, TransAtlantic, Electric, Be Strange and the Offshore Festival.

IF? Records

Bergen is the co-founder and, until December 2010, was the manager of music label IF? Records.

Writing

In Melbourne, Bergen wrote for publications including Mixmag, ToyFare, Remix, Wax, The Age and Herald Sun newspapers, Vice Australia, and Cyclic Defrost magazine. He worked as a music, movie and anime journalist for the Daily Yomiuri newspaper, and was the Tokyo correspondent for Anime Insider, Geek Monthly and Impact magazines.

In a March 2014 interview, Bergen stated that "writing fiction, especially via novels, remains the over all joy" in his creative life.[6]

In 2011he published two novels: One Hundred Years of Vicissitude (2012) and Who is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa? (2013) through Perfect Edge Books. Following the publication of Who Is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa?, Katy O'Dowd wrote on the "In Glorious Technicolor" blog: "Andrez Bergen must never sleep – what with the dayjob, fatherhood, and truly inspiring creative output. I don’t know how he does it, but he does, and still finds the time to be a thoroughly decent fella."[2]

IF? Commix

Bergen launched the IF? Commix publishing label in October 2013 with Melbourne, Australia-based comic artist Matt Kyme.[7] In regard to their collaborative partnership, Bergen explained in August 2013 that Kyme "does ‘That Bulletproof Kid’ [comic]—he’s on madly fast art chores while I spin silly yarns."[2]

In April 2014, Bergen announced his intention to create and publish a graphic novel version of his debut novel Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat.At the time that the announcement was made on Tony Black's "Pulp Pusher" blog, Bergen had already initiated a crowdfunding campaign on the Kickstarter platform in March 2014, in which he further explained that "new plot twists" will be included in the adaptation. Bergen estimated that the graphic novel will be delivered to backers of the project in August 2014.[8]

In his "Pulp Pusher" post, Bergen revealed his creative influences and artistic references for the graphic novel, which will be published on his co-owned IF? Commix label:[9]

The back cover art of the graphic novel is a piece entitled "Dream Of Smoke", by Japanese artist Sukapon-ta.

As of March 2014, the label had published four self-funded comic books,[8] and will publish the graphic novel version of Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat and the Bullet Gal #1 comic in August 2014.[9][10]

According to the IF? Commix website on 4 June 2014, a total of five new titles were released at a launch in Melbourne, Australia, on 17 August 2014.[11] The titles were revealed in a June Time Out Melbourne article: Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat: the graphic novel, That All Star Bulletproof Kid, The Carmen series, Bullet Gal one and two, and Tales to Admonish three.[12]

In a 12 September 2014 interview with the Pandragon Dan website, Bergen revealed that he was working on "two different ongoing sequential projects named Bullet Gal and Tales to Admonish (this second one with an amazing fellow Aussie artist, Matt Kyme)", both of which will be released on the IF? Commix imprint. Bergen explained that Bullet Gal is a character from Who is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa?, but the series is actually a prequel to the novel and is also connected to Depth Charging Ice Plant Gothic. He also writes that the greatest challenge of the two projects is trying to make "essentially single images function as a sequential yarn".[13]

Bergen also stated that the process of creating the graphic novel was beneficial for his ongoing work on Bullet Gal and Tales to Admonish.[13]

The final edition of the 2014 Bullet Gal arc—number 12—will be published in April 2015.[14] Bergen explained in early October 2014: "I decided three weeks ago to conclude the current Bullet Gal arc, which just seems perfect timing, at an even dozen issues ... I think I’ve told the story I wanted to tell."[15]

Bergen and his IF? Commix label partnered with young Canadian comic book and graphic novel publishing company, Under Belly Comics—founded in Hamilton, Ontario, by Adam Jack and Kyle Joseph McEwan—to finance the 280-page Bullet Gal graphic novel through a Kickstarter campaign. The goal of the campaign was C$5,000, but one day prior to the completion date of 11 December 2014, $5,262 had been pledged. The graphic novel will consist of the 12-story arc of Bullet Gal, author notes and mock-ups, guest illustrations, the original covers in full-colour, and an exclusive cover painting by Niagara Detroit.[14]

Other work

Bergen worked on translating and adapting the scripts for feature films by Mamoru Oshii, Kazuchika Kise and Naoyoshi Shiotani.[1] In March 2014, Bergen said that he would be enthused by an offer to write for film or television: "as a journalist I write about movies and anime — so it would be a logical step."[6] When asked to name his favourite film in August 2013, Bergen explained that the decision was a difficult one and listed a series of films that he would like to mould together: Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon, Akira Kurosawa’s Ran, Satoshi Kon’s Millennium Actress and Norman Jewison’s Rollerball.[2]

Influences

When asked in 2014 about sources of inspiration, Bergen replied: "Everywhere? From anything? My daughter is inspiring, my wife, my friends. Living in Japan, and my memories of Australia. From listening to particular music and hearing particular sounds." Bergen stated that he "always loved the sense of mischief as well as iconoclasm and inventiveness" of the Dada art movement, including the work of Salvador Dali, while he named Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" (1917) as his favorite art piece in 2014.[7]

In terms of music, Bergen stated that his favourite album is either Cabaret Voltaire’s Voice of America (1980) or David Bowie’s collaboration with Brian Eno on Heroes (1977). In revealing his most significant musical references, Bergen also spoke of his preference for the vinyl format, explaining that his favourite albums would need to be "played on vinyl for the extra added crackle and pop".[2]

Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett are Bergen's foremost literary "heroes"—in 2013 Bergen cited Chandler’s The Big Sleep and Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon as his all-time favorite books. However, throughout Bergen's writing career he has also identified numerous artists who have influenced his short story, comic, novel and graphic novel work: Michael Chabon, Shuichi Yoshida, Jedediah Berry, Heath Lowrance, Josh Stallings, Nicholas Christopher, Ryu Murakami, Katsuhiro Otomo, Will Eisner, Hergé, Alan Moore, Ed Brubaker, Jack Kirby ("I grew up at the altar of Jack Kirby"), Jim Steranko, Steve Ditko, Steve Epting, Yukito Kishiro, Tarpé Mills, Frank Miller, David Aja, Kazuo Umezu, Joe Kubert, Hayao Miyzaki, Masamune Shirow, Barry Windsor-Smith, David Lloyd, Sean Phillips, Walter Geovani and Matteo Scalera.[6][7]

Bergen's advice to aspiring writers in March 2014 was: "Hang in there. It’ll be tough, the monetary returns may never happen, but if you truly love what you’re doing, who cares? And don’t procrastinate — just do it. Okay?"[6]

Personal life

Bergen lives in Tokyo, Japan with his wife, artist Yoko Umehara, and their daughter Cocoa.[1]

Discography

Little Nobody/Andrez Bergen

Other monikers

Compilations

Bibliography

Novels

Short stories

Graphic novels

Comic books

Anthologies

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "guff about andrez". Andrez Bergen. Andrez Bergen. 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Katy O'Dowd (5 August 2013). "In Glorious Technicolor: Andrez Bergen". Been Caught Reading. Been Caught Reading. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "About". Andrez Bergen on Google Plus. Google Inc. 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  4. ↑ Maunder, Trish (2 April 1999). "Culture Club Profile". The Age.
  5. ↑ Mast, =Andrew (2001). "Beat: Single of the Week". Furst Publishing. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Renato B (8 March 2014). "A Conversation With Andrew Bergen". Radikal News. Radikal News. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Andrez Bergen (9 April 2014). "DEPTH CHARGING THE TOBACCO-STAINED MOUNTAIN GOAT". Pulp Pusher. Google Inc. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Andrez Bergen (March 2014). "Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat: The Graphic Novel". Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat: The Graphic Novel on Kickstarter. Kickstarter, Inc. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Andrez Bergen (12 May 2014). "Timeline Photos" (IMAGE UPLOAD). Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat: The Graphic Novel on Facebook. Facebook. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 John Kowalski (1 June 2014). "Nerd Bytes 56 – Days of Future Past, Marvel For Strat & More". Word Of The Nerd. John Kowalski. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  11. ↑ "IF? COMMIX LAUNCH IN AUGUST!". IF? Commix. IF? Commix. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "IF? Commix Inaugural 5-Title Comic Book Launch Party". Time Out Melbourne. Time Out Group Ltd. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "SEQUENTIALIZING THE TEXT - A GUEST POST BY ANDREZ BERGEN". Pandragon Dan. Pandragon Dan. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "BULLET GAL by Under Belly Comics". Under Belly Comics on Kickstarter. Kickstarter, Inc. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  15. ↑ "A new novel in the works, and wrapping up Bullet Gal". Andrez Bergen. Wordpress. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 "Books by Andrez Bergen". Goodreads. Goodreads Inc. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.

External links